| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, December 9, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | USA Sports Today Announces Live Weekly Program Focusing On PGA Tour |
| • | Tonight's "MNF" Matchup Less Than Impressive, As 3-9 Bears Take Field |
| • | Manchester United Today Releases Details Of '03 Summer Tour |
| • | Shares Of Skechers USA Plunge Today Upon News Of Revised Numbers |
| • | Champions Tour Releases '03 Schedule Today With 31 Official Events |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Daily Stat/Articles of Interest/In Other News/Channel Surfing |
"PGA TOUR SUNDAY ON USA" TO DEBUT JANUARY 12
USA Sports announced today that "PGA Tour Sunday on USA," a live weekly one-hour program, will debut January 12, 2003, at 11:00am ET on USA. Hosted by Fran Charles, the program will feature tournament reports, topical golf stories and analysis, as well as stories on the lifestyle of golf and elite golfers. PGA Tour pro and USA studio analyst John Cook and USA lead analyst Peter Kostis will contribute (THE DAILY).
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour's Champions Tour today announced a schedule of 31 official events for the '03 season that will offer approximately $52M in prize money (THE DAILY).
"MNF" MATCHUP: EVIDENCE OF NFL'S NEED FOR FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE
The CHICAGO TRIBUNE notes that tonight's "MNF" game between the 3-9 Bears and 7-5 Dolphins "should force the NFL to implement a flexible schedule for Monday night games" in '03. Following a November 18 game in which both the Bears and Rams were below .500, if this "terrible matchup can't push league executives over the top, nothing will." While it may affect ratings this week, "getting stuck with the Bears twice in the last four weeks only enhances ABC's case when it makes its annual plea for a flexible schedule next spring" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 12/9).
MANCHESTER UNITED UNVEILS FOUR-CITY U.S. TOUR SCHEDULE
Manchester United today released details of its four-city U.S. exhibition tour. Scheduled for next summer, the tour is designed to help Manchester United's first team squad prepare for the new English Premier League season in August (THE DAILY).
| Date | Opponent | Venue | City |
| July 22 | Celtic FC (Scotland) | Seahawks Stadium | Seattle, WA |
| July 27 | Club America (Mexico) | L.A. Coliseum | Los Angeles, CA |
| July 31 | Juventus (Italy) | Giants Stadium | East Rutherford, NJ |
| August 3 | FC Barcelona (Spain) | Lincoln Financial Field | Philadelphia, PA |
TENNIS CHANNEL SECURES RIGHTS TO 15 TABLE TENNIS TOURNEYS
The Tennis Channel today announced that it has secured the telecast rights to 15 Int'l Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) sanctioned tournaments in a deal with OR-based Tabletennisvideos.com, the U.S. TV rights holder of ITTF events. Under terms of the agreement, Tabletennisvideos.com will produce 90-minute telecasts to include profile features on the competitors. Among the 15 telecasts are the World Championships, European Championships and World Cup competitions (THE DAILY).
SKECHERS USA LOWERS SALES NUMBERS BY $35M; SHARES DROP
CBS MarketWatch reports that shares of Skechers USA "plunged [today] after the trendy footwear retailer disclosed it would fall well short of Wall Street's earnings expectations for" Q4 '02. The company now sees a loss of $0.25-0.35 per share on sales of $160-170M, which were previously reported at $195-205M. Skechers USA CFO David Greenberg: "The weak economic environment has been characterized by soft consumer spending, price concessions, and fear of inventory build-up at retail. As a result, our expected reorder business did not materialize" (CBS MarketWatch, 12/9). As of presstime, shares of Skechers USA were down $4.89, or 40%, to $7.16.
FAN BRANDS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES TODAY
GA-based Fan Brands, manufacturer of licensed BBQ grilling irons, officially launched today. Having shipped its first product this month, a Univ. of Notre Dame branded grilling iron, the company is closing additional licensing agreements with various NCAA schools and NASCAR drivers. In addition to the Univ. of Notre Dame deal, the company has licensing agreements with NASCAR drivers Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. The grilling iron is clamped onto a BBQ and the meat of choice is placed directly on the brand to sear the meat with the chosen logo (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
ESPN's debut of "Thursday Night Hockey" earned a 0.75/ (652,000 HHs) Nielsen cable rating. The first two telecasts have averaged a 0.78/ (681,000 HHs), a 50% increase over last year's two-telecast average of a 0.52/ (447,000 HHs) (THE DAILY).
NBC's "The National Dog Show Presented By Purina," which aired opposite CBS' Patriots-Lions on Thanksgiving day, earned a final Nielsen rating of 5.3. The Daily has learned that advertisers were guaranteed a 2.5 rating (THE DAILY).
 |
| Paula Radcliffe |
Chicago Marathon winner and world record holder Paula Radcliffe has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year for '02. Manchester United MF David Beckham finished second (ANANOVA.com, 12/8).
Suzy Whaley, who will become the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event at next year's Greater Hartford Open, has hired Peter Jacobsen Productions (PJP), to represent her in all golf-related contractual agreements and personal appearances. PJP will also negotiate sponsor endorsements and other corporate opportunities (THE DAILY).
The Magic today, in conjunction with Enterprise Computer Solutions, selected GoldMine Sales & Marketing to manage its customer service programs. The White Sox, Cavaliers and Devil Rays also deploy GoldMine software (THE DAILY).
The Blue Jackets announced today that a limited number of game-worn team jerseys will be available at various locations, including an online auction at the team's Web site, beginning today. Additionally, fans may participate in a 10-day online auction by visiting auctions.nhl.com (THE DAILY).
The BOSTON HERALD reports that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein "turned down an invite to fly out to the Left Coast to do 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'" (BOSTON HERALD, 12/9).
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
The Charlotte Touchdown Club will hold their '02 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet at the Adams Mark Hotel in Charlotte, NC, beginning at 7:00pm ET. ESPN Sportscaster Al Bernstein will emcee, and Univ. of Miami football coach Larry Coker will be the keynote speaker (THE DAILY).
The MLS Wizards will "kick off its 'Match the MLS Best' ticket campaign" tonight at 6:30pm CT. Owner Lamar Hunt, GM Curt Johnson and M Chris Klein will attend (K.C. STAR, 12/9).
The 5th Annual Boston Sports Awards will take place at the Roxy in Boston beginning at 8:00pm ET. ESPN Broadcaster Steve Levy and WCB-TV sports anchor Kristen Mastroianni will host, and proceeds from the event will benefit the V Foundation. Nominees for Player of the Year include Celtics F Paul Pierce, Red Sox LF Manny Ramirez and Patriots QB Tom Brady (THE DAILY).
Also in Boston, the Celtics will honor the two recipients of the '03 3C's Scholarship, Lawrence Phillips and Felicia Jordan, before tonight's game against the Magic (THE DAILY).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE's King Semiean offers an interview with HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg, who discusses how boxing fuels his network. Greenburg: "It's the event that gets the highest ratings and the most attention. It has always been a sport that HBO can look at with pride, and can say we have a big piece of that sport on a national level. We can't buy NFL football for $600[M] a year because we don't have the advertising. … It's been the highest profile event we've ever had on the network" (New Orleans TIMES PICAYUNE).
The L.A. TIMES' Shav Glick writes that while NASCAR "has changed as much as its drivers, shedding its 'good ol' boy' image of moonshine haulers to a slick, Madison Avenue corporate public relations look personified by Jeff Gordon," the controversial '02 Winston Cup Champion Tony Stewart "is the nearest thing to a reincarnation" of former NASCAR drivers Junior Johnson, Little Joe Weatherly or Curtis Turner (L.A. TIMES).
The Austin AMERICAN-STATESMAN's John Maher writes that while women's college basketball is gaining in popularity, a majority of programs are running deficits. A review of recent federal data "reveals that women's basketball is the biggest money loser of the more that 38 men's and women's Division I-A sports tracked by the NCAA." Maher notes that although women's basketball "is referred to as a revenue sport – along with men's basketball and football – many athletic directors hold out the hope that it can at least break even for financially strapped athletic departments" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
IN OTHER NEWS…
The WASHINGTON POST reports that President Bush announced today that he has chosen CSX Corp. Chair John Snow to be the new treasury secretary (WASHINGTON POST, 12/9).
TODAY'S DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BESTSELLING NONFICTION
The following presents best selling nonfiction books from the N.Y. Times the week ending November 30 (N.Y. TIMES):
| THIS
WEEK | HARDCOVER NONFICTION |
| 1) | BUSH AT WAR, Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster) |
| 2) | PORTRAIT OF A KILLER, Patricia Cornwell (Putnam) |
| 3) | LEADERSHIP, Rudolph W. Giuliani with Ken Kurson (Miramax/Hyperion) |
| 4) | JOURNALS, Kurt Cobain (Riverhead) |
| 5) | A LONG WAY FROM HOME, Tom Brokaw (Random House) |
| 6) | MY LOSING SEASON, Pat Conroy (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday) |
| 7) | SANDY KOUFAX, Jane Leavy (HarperCollins) |
| 8) | LIVE FROM NEW YORK, Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller (Little, Brown) |
| 9) | OUR STORY, by the Quecreek miners, as told to Jeff Goodell (Hyperion) |
| 10) | THE CONQUERORS, Michael Beschloss (Simon & Schuster) |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air "Monday Night Countdown" at 7:30pm ET.
ABC will air "MNF," Bears-Dolphins, at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NCAA men's basketball, Vanderbilt-Indiana at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Sandy Koufax at 11:00pm ET.
Univ. of Miami QB Ken Dorsey, former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Sporting News baseball writer Ken Rosenthal and strongman Dennis Rogers are scheduled to appear on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
A&E's "Biography" will air its Biography of the Year episode at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile Anna Nicole Smith at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "Late Show" | Jennifer Lopez |
| "The Tonight Show" | George Clooney |
| "The Late Late Show" | Tia Carrere |
| "Late Night" | Jeff Goldblum (r) |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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